Pupils re-enact Sir Frances Drake expedition – and all before lunch
REVIEW: Wick Players brought two productions to the Assembly Rooms at the weekend. Karen Steven went along to watch
The pupils of class 6 are bored… bored, bored, bored. What they want is to do something a little bit different.
And fortunately for the audience at Wick Assembly Rooms, their wish comes true.
There was certainly nothing boring about Round the World with Class 6 and White Lies, the two plays presented by the talented members of Wick Players last week.
This pre-Christmas treat gave the audience plenty of laughs and the chance for some of the new members of the Junior Players to shine.
And shine they did. Some of them were making their stage debuts but you would not have known it from the almost faultless performances on show.
The curtains opened to the pupils sitting at their desks going through the perfectly synchronised motions of their daily tasks. Every day is the same, every interruption is the same, even down to the wee lad who always forgets the word register even though he comes in every day to collect it.
Salvation comes in the form of a note from supply teacher Mr Parker. He gives the children the option of going off piste in a history assessment by asking them to re-enact the circumnavigation of the globe undertaken by Sir Francis Drake in 1577 – and all before lunch.
The kids are up for the challenge. The history book is, quite literally, dusted off, the tables and chairs quickly fashioned to represent a ship, the lost property box is raided for costumes, and off they go.
Even the register boy is press-ganged into service to make up the crew numbers, and together they follow in Drake’s wake.
The result, under the direction of Frances Yellop, was a humorous foray into youthful imagination, especially effective in the storm and seasickness scenes.
The young cast consisted of Kate Durrand, Flora Grant, Olivia Sutherland, Lily Sutherland, Emma Thomson, Erna Thain, Devin Alexander, Kara Howden, Blayr Howden, Emily Forsyth, Tyler Wilson, Lucy Campbell and Issy Hanrahan.
It was hard to believe that some of these young Players were new to the stage and it was a delight to see such confident and self-assured performances. The audience loved them.
After the break it was the turn of five of the more experienced amateur thespians to entertain with White Lies.
Four former university friends meet for a reunion at an upmarket restaurant only to find the planned happy stroll down memory lane derailed by long-held secrets and regret.
Bea (Marney Bruce) is wealthy and rude, and immediately insults the waitress (Jenny Szyfelbain), something she is later to regret.
She is joined by the much more amenable Ruth (Margaret Thomson) and then Judith (Lesley Young). Last to arrive after quite a wait is Pam (Jane Taylor).
We quickly learn that Bea is desperate to win the National Lottery. All her life she has gone after what she wants (including her friends’ boyfriends) and married purely for money. But she has ended up at the beck and call of a man she despises, and she wants out.
Ruth married young to a man she was too good for and raised a family while Judith, still affected by the suicide of her boyfriend while at university, has become a published playwright.
The only one happy with her lot is the effervescent Pam who spent time in jail for embezzlement and now works to make life better for those in need. She would not change one thing about her life.
As Bea’s behaviour takes its toll, the remaining three enlist the help of the waitress to trick her into believing she has won the lottery. She phones her husband to tell him she is leaving him and, as the curtains close, we see her deal with the realisation that she has been duped.
There were plenty of laughs to be had, most of them stemming from Bea’s awfulness and the others’ reactions to it.
Good performances from all involved, and experienced direction from Jenny Szyfelbain made the comedy believable but also allowed us to glimpse the tragedy in these women’s lives.
However, it wasn’t just those on stage who made this evening a success. All those involved – from front of house to backstage production – deserve plaudits for a job well done.
The plays themselves might not have been festive, but Wick Players yet again worked hard to give audiences plenty of good cheer.
Round the World with Class 6
Director – Frances Yellop.
Cast – Kate Durrand, Flora Grant, Olivia Sutherland, Lily Sutherland, Emma Thomson, Erna Thain, Devin Alexander, Kara Howden, Blayr Howden, Emily Forsyth, Tyler Wilson, Lucy Campbell, Issy Hanrahan.
White Lies
Director - Jenny Szyfelbain.
Cast – Marney Bruce (Bea), Margaret Thomson (Ruth), Lesley Young (Judith), Jane Taylor (Pam), Jenny Szyfelbain (waitress).
Production team:
Stage manager – David Hornsby.
Stage assistant – Duncan Robertson.
Lighting technician – James Steven.
Sound operator – Brian Yellop.
Prompters – Gina Alexander, Jayden Alexander.
Props assistant (Wick Junior Players) – Scott Mackenzie.
Hair and make-up (Wick Junior Players) – Gina Alexander.
Wardrobe – The Cast, Alana Alexander.
Front of house and booking manager – Jeanette Coghill.
Front of house team – Clare Sturrock-Center, Abbie Gunn, Isobel Campbell, Mary Thain, Carole Sinclair, Alison Munro, Fiona Sinclair.